Russian free-range farmer aims for happy, healthy livestock | Animals | Forums

JSW said
The wife and I really enjoyed this, thanks. It's amazing the resourcefulness and hard work ethic some of our elders have compared our younger generations.

so very true

Couple of thoughts about the video

1. Show's what we have had to deal with in the US. Family has a successful farm but the kids want nothing to do with it. It happened in my own family. I had posted the blog post about going home when my grandmother passed away.

http://thehomesteadi.....homestead/

2. I really want a copy of her book

3. Her ideas and mine about housing animals in the cold are pretty much inline. I did a podcast with @dangerduke a couple years ago where we talked about chickens and having to heat the water, have a heat lamp on them, etc. This was how we have traditionally raised chickens in the winter.

I posed the question dude, what did they do back in the 1800's without electricity and heat lamps? So I started thinking more and more about it and 2 years ago we decided to let the chickens winter under my dad's cabin.

we gave them no heat, but a fresh bed of straw under dad's porch and feed and water. After a couple days during really cold temps I started noticing if their water was frozen that there was little peck marks in the snow. So I tested over a couple days and watched the birds without giving them water and sure enough the chickens were just going out and eating snow.

So this is how I raise chickens now, I usually give them a fresh bowl of water every several days. The front of the coop I am standing in is totally open and they have full access to their run.

I use to wrap their whole coop in plastic which is unhealthy because it doesn't allow for airflow and can cause respiratory conditions. When it is really snowing and blowing the birds are up in the top left corner protecting themselves. Other than that they have fresh sunshine and either roost or sit in the nesting boxes.

Our boys the same thing. I can only think of once when I filled their frozen water bucket that they even noticed it, otherwise they just sit there chewing their cud.

We leave the back door of the barn totally open, they come and go as they please. 99% of the time they are outside unless it is majorly storming out

If they were in distress they would vocally let me know, I haven't heard them moo or call in months.

I guess what I'm trying to get to is don't over think it. Let the animals be animals like they have for thousands of years.